Dennis Dale explains John McCain's Media Magic:

I'll give [McCain] this much: he's figured it out. To get the press on your side, humor the bastards night and day. Flatter them. Give them 'access' and they'll love you for it so much they won't ask you any tough questions. Give 'em access and they'll do nothing with it, lest they lose it. Brilliant.

That's the trick Tom Cruise's old PR agent, Pat Kingsley, figured out as well. Tom's just about the hardest-working man in show biz, so she gave the media outlets a deal: they could have tons of Tom's time, as long as they didn't ask him any interesting questions ("So, Tom, what's the deal with this moon man religion of yours? Has the space monkey cult figured out some secret way to keep you from going gay?") If press did ask him something besides whether he does all his own stunts or just 99% of them, they'd not only lose all access to Tom, but to the rest of Kingsley's stable of clients. It worked for years, and then he fired her and put his sister in charge. You've seen the results.